1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to computerized documents. More particularly, this invention relates to improvements in the editing of computerized documents written in a markup language.
2. Description of the Related Art
Markup languages permit creation of documents in generally simple, flexible text formats. For example, XML, a derivative of standard generalized markup language (SGML, IS0-8879), was originally designed to meet the challenges of large-scale electronic publishing. XML is also playing an increasingly important role in the exchange of a wide variety of data on the worldwide web and elsewhere. Details of XML may be found on the Internet at the web site of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
Existing XML editors provide a tree view for all the elements of a XML file and, a common editor for the attributes of each element. For example, Xeena is a XML editor, which is available from Alpha Works via the URL “www.alphaworks.ibm.com”. In Xeena, which is a Java® application, XML attributes of the XML elements are edited via a table. Each attribute value is entered using an editing graphical user interface (GUI) component, e.g., a combo box or text field, which is derived from the document type definition (DTD). The editor then guides the user in inserting elements into the tree. Xeena uses a tree widget to display hierarchically organized file elements, and a small table-like widget. The widgets allow a user to interface with the XML document via a graphical user interface (GUI) and to edit the attributes of a currently selected element.
Another known XML editor is XML-Spy, available from Altova Inc., 900 Cummings Center Suite, 314-T, Beverly, Mass. 01915-6181. This editor presents all the elements of a XML document, and their attributes in an extended table format.